We are new at this!! ...Crate and Treat help!

[TomnZon]

We STILL don't have Brooklyn yet....17 more days til we go pick him up! But we are trying to prepare the best we can..I've never owned a dog so this is all new to me! We have a little crate for the puppy.....we want some ideas as to what you guys have put in your pup's crate that kept em busy while you were gone all day... Blanket, stuffed animal?

Also, when training the pup, any recommendations for tiny treats to give? My friend gave me live treats for dogs as a little gift for when the puppy comes! She used them with her English Lab when he was a pup and she said he loved them.......Again, Tom and I are new at this so any help is appreciated!

Thank yoU!! Can't wait for January 6th! Even though we have no idea what we are doing! lol. ANY HELP!THrow it our way!

 

[Alice Kable]

Make sure the crate is big enough so the puppy can more around. The puppy will need something safe to chew on. Nylabones are safe. Is there someone who can take the pup out for potty breaks? It is really important to socialize your dog with people and other animals. I always use Science Diet Puppy kibbles for treats, they are more nutritous than most treats.

 

[bfletch13]

I put one of my old sweatshirts in the crate with them.
So that it has my smell in there. Also I just left one
toy in there, no food.

I'm not sure how long you will be leaving the puppy
in there. But If you are going to be gone all day maybe
you should leave some water too. Feed him before
you leave and take him out for a potty.

I would try my best to let him out at my lunch
break though.

 

[bullmama]

Don't put any toys that have stuffing in them until you find out if they are a shredder/destroyer. Most bullies are. They can swallow the fabric. Anything that can be swallowed whole should never be left alone with them.

For example, a small kong toy is perfectly safe for a new puppy, but many bulldog owners keep this toy into adulthood. Well, once the bully gets big, they can swallow that small kong whole. I know of SEVERAL bullies who have swallowed a puppy/small dog sized kong and had to have surgery to remove it.

 

[mammyglicks]

I don't leave anything in the crate with Bear. Too afraid but I might try his nylabone. He'll eat any fabric, lol. He will be left in the crate approx 7 hours a day now since I decided to go back to an office job

 

[LisaRN]

I am going to try and post/find a photo here to show you what our breeder suggested to do with Chester for his crate and it worked BEAUTIFULLY!! We bought the extra large crate at Walmart (about $80). This is where it may sound confusing.. we put the top part and bottom part together, forming a kind of "bowl". We used zip ties to keep it held together. It was more like a big "crib" for him. One end we put paper in..the other his blankets and toys. I think this really helped to housebreak him too..as he learned there was a place to do everything! When he got to the point where he could jump over the top or rather "fall out the top" by leaning way over.. we put the crate together the normal way (which the first day, he didn't like AT ALL) and now that is his crate. It worked well, it kept him contained but not "crated" when he was a baby..we kept it in our living room. Now, it's nice and big and roomy for him. Lets see if I can attach a photo now. Oh ..by the way... we feed Blue Buffalo treats from PetSmart.. they have all kinds of good flavors and Chester loves them and they seem to be safe from creating "tear stains".

Now for the photos..

this was his "toy end"

you can see the "long view" this way

this shows how we had it "zip tied" together..

this is the side view..and right before we had to put it together the normal way.. as you can see, he was just about big enough to get out the top

 

[KMARINO]

[MENTION=530]LisaRN[/MENTION], Aaawwww, baby Chester, how adora-bull!

 

[TomnZon]

WOW!!!! [MENTION=530]LisaRN[/MENTION]
That looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He never got out though.. if you left him all day? And did he eat the newspaper??? And he knew that one end was to go to the bathroom, and the other end to sleep/play? Thanks so much for posting those pix! We have a small write crate that a friend gave us that she used for her dog when he was a puppy.........now we just need to figure out what to do!

 

[Lacey28]

Awwe! Chester pics are so cute! We used liver treats for training purposes. Silva wasnt crate trained so no help there!

 

[cali~jenn]

No help on the crate thing either since our boys are not crate trained and they trained us instead. I do love Lisas set up tho!!!! As for snacks, the liver ones are good I remember using them with Cutty when he was young. Frozen green beans or the baby carrots are another easy snack to give. Starting as a puppy it may be easier to get them liking all the veggies and fruits rather than waiting till he is older. Also it depends on what brand of food you decide to go with. Each brand has their own treats usually so you may wanna look into them as well.

 

[LisaRN]

[MENTION=1546]TomnZon[/MENTION] Nope..never got out of it.. and one day he leaned over just far enough that we knew he would get out any time..and later that evening, he got over the top. But he was pretty old..I think we had him in it like that at least 2 months. Now remember, this was an extra large sized crate from Walmart. If you get a smaller crate the sides won't be as high. He would tear up paper in there, but he would've done that in a regular crate. And really, being that long, he was able to really walk around in there and we weren't so afraid of "accidents" on the rug. I should add..we put his water bowl and food bowl in the "newspaper" end.. because often he would go RIGHT after doing one or the other.

We left him in there during the day when no one was home and all night long. I put newspaper down in one end..with some shreds of newspaper and he "got it" pretty quick that that was the side to do his business and the other side = with his blankets was to sleep, play. After a while I stopped putting the shreds in there and just left intact newspaper in there. It was kind of like his "play pen". Like I said..my breeder gave us the instructions and said this is what she recommended for all her bully baby parents. She really stressed it was important for the puppy being able to still get his exercise and walk around when he couldn't be out of it and watched every minute. I would do this for any future "baby" we have.

 

[kazzy220]

We've always crate trained our pups and it's been successful. Of them all, Daddy has taken the longest to train, but I'm wondering if that's because he came from a puppy mill where the mother probably couldn't even get to go anywhere other than the place she slept in ...

We encouraged the crate to be their little "cave", and now that the crate is out of the basement again for Daddy to use it's difficult to stop some of the other dogs going in there to sleep!!